The tool that I decided to explore is from http://www.shelfari.com/. This tool allows you to create your own online bookshelf that you can share with anyone who also has an account on the Shelfari website, or you can choose to make your account private. When you first create your account, you can design what you want your bookshelf to look like and create a personal profile with information about yourself. The site allows you to search for books that you have read, are reading, or want to read. You can click on a book to add it to your shelf. Once you click on the book, you are given options to rate the book, summarize the book, and give tag words for the book. You can also indicate which books are your favorites and which books you would like to buy. Another option that this site has to offer is the ability to join various themed groups. I joined two groups (one about children's literature and one about adolescent literature) which offer suggestions and reviews about different children's and young adult books. You can also create your own group and invite only certain people to become a part of the group. This site is very easy to figure out, offering a step by step process on the home page. Once you start adding books to your shelf, it also gives you suggestions of other books that you might like based on what you have chosen.
The Process:
1. Upon joining Shelfari, you provide your name, email address, and a password.
2. The second step is to select any friends that you would like to invite or add to your shelfari friends list.
3. Now you can look for books to add to your shelf by typing the title or author into the search bar.
4. Once you find your book, you select when you finished reading the book, give the book a rating and a review, say whether or not you own the book, and then provide a tag word for the book (any word that you think fits with a main theme, idea, genre, etc. of the book). The book will automatically be added to your shelf as soon as you click done.
5. When viewing your shelf, go to the Profile button near the top of the page, hold the cursor over the down arrow next to the word Profile and click on the pop up entitled My Shelf. Viewing your shelf, you can organize the books based on the author, the title, the review, your rating, or the date it was added.
6. If you would like to edit your account, click on the Account Settings icon located on the My Shelf page. This will take you to your profile in which you can add your username, edit your privacy settings, add a photo, and give a personal description for yourself.
7. To add friends, go to the Profile button at the top of the page and hold the cursor over the arrow again. Go down to the pop up entitled invite a friend and click on it. This then allows you to type in your friends email addresses and invite them to join.
8. If you would like to create your own group, go to the Profile button at the top of the page and hold the cursor over the arrow. God down to the pop up called groups. Click on the start your own option and title your group. Provide a description and invite people to join your group.
This tool would be extremely useful in a reading language arts classroom setting. Since you can make your profile private, students can remain anonymous to everyone outside of the reading class. Students can join the class group and create their own online book shelves. Once they have created a shelf, they can add their favorite books, current books that they are reading, etc. and provide book reviews. Everyone is able to view everyone else's shelves and reviews that are in the class group, so they will be able to see what books their friends are reading and what books they might like to read next. As a teacher, you can have your students post a book and a review every other week on the created classroom group page and their classmates can respond to the book review. Having this tool available, students can update their profiles from their homes or in the classroom. They can gather a list of books that they would like to read simply by browsing through their classmates shelves. The teacher will also learn what types of books each student is interested in and could offer suggestions of books that each individual might like. I would definitely recommend this site, but I think it should be used primarily for fifth grade and up. These students are more developed in their technology skills and would benefit the most from this type of activity. I believe that through using this tool, students would build upon their knowledge of all the books that are out there and step out of their comfort zone of books that they might not have normally chosen to read.
The tool that I decided to explore is from http://www.shelfari.com/. This tool allows you to create your own online bookshelf that you can share with anyone who also has an account on the Shelfari website, or you can choose to make your account private. When you first create your account, you can design what you want your bookshelf to look like and create a personal profile with information about yourself. The site allows you to search for books that you have read, are reading, or want to read. You can click on a book to add it to your shelf. Once you click on the book, you are given options to rate the book, summarize the book, and give tag words for the book. You can also indicate which books are your favorites and which books you would like to buy. Another option that this site has to offer is the ability to join various themed groups. I joined two groups (one about children's literature and one about adolescent literature) which offer suggestions and reviews about different children's and young adult books. You can also create your own group and invite only certain people to become a part of the group. This site is very easy to figure out, offering a step by step process on the home page. Once you start adding books to your shelf, it also gives you suggestions of other books that you might like based on what you have chosen.
The Process:
1. Upon joining Shelfari, you provide your name, email address, and a password.
2. The second step is to select any friends that you would like to invite or add to your shelfari friends list.
3. Now you can look for books to add to your shelf by typing the title or author into the search bar.
4. Once you find your book, you select when you finished reading the book, give the book a rating and a review, say whether or not you own the book, and then provide a tag word for the book (any word that you think fits with a main theme, idea, genre, etc. of the book). The book will automatically be added to your shelf as soon as you click done.
5. When viewing your shelf, go to the Profile button near the top of the page, hold the cursor over the down arrow next to the word Profile and click on the pop up entitled My Shelf. Viewing your shelf, you can organize the books based on the author, the title, the review, your rating, or the date it was added.
6. If you would like to edit your account, click on the Account Settings icon located on the My Shelf page. This will take you to your profile in which you can add your username, edit your privacy settings, add a photo, and give a personal description for yourself.
7. To add friends, go to the Profile button at the top of the page and hold the cursor over the arrow again. Go down to the pop up entitled invite a friend and click on it. This then allows you to type in your friends email addresses and invite them to join.
8. If you would like to create your own group, go to the Profile button at the top of the page and hold the cursor over the arrow. God down to the pop up called groups. Click on the start your own option and title your group. Provide a description and invite people to join your group.
This tool would be extremely useful in a reading language arts classroom setting. Since you can make your profile private, students can remain anonymous to everyone outside of the reading class. Students can join the class group and create their own online book shelves. Once they have created a shelf, they can add their favorite books, current books that they are reading, etc. and provide book reviews. Everyone is able to view everyone else's shelves and reviews that are in the class group, so they will be able to see what books their friends are reading and what books they might like to read next. As a teacher, you can have your students post a book and a review every other week on the created classroom group page and their classmates can respond to the book review. Having this tool available, students can update their profiles from their homes or in the classroom. They can gather a list of books that they would like to read simply by browsing through their classmates shelves. The teacher will also learn what types of books each student is interested in and could offer suggestions of books that each individual might like. I would definitely recommend this site, but I think it should be used primarily for fifth grade and up. These students are more developed in their technology skills and would benefit the most from this type of activity. I believe that through using this tool, students would build upon their knowledge of all the books that are out there and step out of their comfort zone of books that they might not have normally chosen to read.
The Pumpkin Patch